Don’t forget to pray for the team going to Mérida this morning. In case you missed it, yesterday we explained some of what they would be doing and Dennis asked for us to pray specifically for the “green light” at customs. You can listen to the 3 minute audio clip below:

The mission team has been home a few weeks now from their February 2009 evangelism trip to Mérida, Mexico’s Carnaval. Dennis has been working hard on organizing the 1,383 photos taken by the missionaries and paring them down to just 380, then organizing and captioning them for your viewing pleasure. They have now been posted on line for viewing.

The photos serve as a diary of the trip and chronicle the events that took place over those 10 days…the little things, the big things, the funny things and the amazing things that happened…all events during which the presence of our Lord God and the prayers of his faithful people were felt.

To view the pictures of February’s trip, click here. To see pictures and read journals from other mission trips beginning in 2001, please visit our website http://www.dtcain.com/.

Thanks again to our financial and prayer supporters who helped make this successful trip possible. Please continue to pray for the lost souls of Mérida, many of whom now hold Gospel tracts in their hands, and for God’s people as they strive to continue the great work of evangelism in their city.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”Matthew 28:19-20

Today, Teri received a few photos with brief descriptions from Dennis. Here are a couple from her blog:

Dennis and a translator, from Calvary Chapel, open air preach.

Way of the Master training session
at Calvary Chapel Mérida last Saturday.

A girl reads over her Million Dollar Gospel tract.

Dennis and a translator, from Calvary Chapel, open air preach.

Eduardo uses the “red and green” ice breaker tracts to
introduce these girls to the Gospel.

A note from Dennis: “The newspaper said that on the last day alone there were over 650,000 people watching the parade. Pastor Sam said he heard 700,000. This is for the last day alone. Approx. 200,000 for each of the other parades. Pastor Sam wants us to
come back next year to do this again.”

After a “day off” to rest up and enjoy the local culture, the rest of the trip will be spent helping Calvary Chapel in whatever way that they can. Opportunities abound…more street evangelism; possibly sharing, preaching and serving at the church mission in the rest home; visiting and sharing in the church school, and maybe more trips to one of the villages. Continue to keep Dennis, David, Fran, Ellen and Mary in your prayers. They will be arriving back home late Sunday evening.

Teri has posted some more updates on the trip, on her blog. Still no new pictures, but here are some of the highlights from the most recent update:

Yesterday morning, the team went to the village of Hocába… where God brought together a large crowd to hear the open air preaching. It was also reported that there were many good one-on-one witnessing encounters. Dennis is excited that the church evangelism team members are seeing so many examples of law and grace evangelism in action. These are tools that they will be able to use over and over after our team returns home.

Dennis also reported that they had a good time at Carnaval last night where they evangelized in the crowds gathered for another of the parades. A group of about 15 came out from the church so along with our five mission team members, there was a good group. Our friend Eduardo is so eager and he is “a joy to watch”, Dennis said. Dennis and Eduardo did several “open air” preaching sessions with Eduardo translating. Dennis even did a Spanish version of the trivia game and gave away 20 pesos. Then he offered 50 pesos to someone willing to take the Good Person Test. A young man named Gabriel took the challenge, and Dennis reports that “he was in tears” at the end of the test. He and many others asked for the church address, and others asked for Bibles. Please remember Gabriel by name in your prayers, that God would continue to work in his life.

Today was the “big” parade – the final day of their “Mardi Gras”… Dennis tells me that their celebration has much the same connotation as the New Orleans tradition…”eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we start Lent.” But whatever the reason, the crowds today were much “harder”, he said. They were less willing to listen and less willing to take tracts of any kind. It was a tough day comparatively speaking. Dennis said that it was “unbelievable how many people were out there today.” He’ll be checking the newspaper tomorrow for an estimated total, but last year’s estimate for this final parade was over 500,000 people.

The team prays that tomorrow will be a more successful day, like those earlier in the week; please keep them in your prayers. They will be witnessing in the plaza square where many families gather on Sunday afternoons. They will also be talking with people as they exit from Mass in the Catholic Cathedral which has stood in the square since 1598, and is one of the oldest Cathedral’s in the world.
They are also planning to venture into the city market which should be interesting for everyone (Dennis took me there last November – if nothing else, it will be an adventure!). Dennis said in November that he couldn’t wait to get back to the market with an evangelism team to start witnessing. Tomorrow is the day! The market is always crowded and there will be ample opportunity to share with people as they wander about the huge marketplace.

Just got a email from Dennis giving me a quick update and telling me of one particular witnessing encounter they had:

It is a great joy in the Lord to see God moving in these people at CC Merida. Their excitment to evangelize is tremendous.

This night, I did a pseudo open air along the parade route to a group of people and gave away money for trivia. These people were sitting and waiting for the parade to pass their location (a captive audience). Gabriel took the good person test. He failed but still received the 50 pesos as a symbol of receiving unearned undeserved mercy and grace. Apparently God was convecting him of his sin as he was in tears at the end.